CEO, Kay Aikin, writes about Introspective’s progress throughout 2018
As we approach Christmas and the year comes to a close, I often find myself reflecting on both the successes and challenges we faced over the year. No matter who you are or what stage of life you’re in, this is the season for reflection and introspection. To me, reflection represents the act of examining what we did, and introspection is the how. After pondering this for a while, I came to the conclusion that, at its core, our software embodies the very concept of reflection and introspection and of course, the hard work of our talented staff.
This year brought many successes that our team can be proud of. We continued to chart new frontiers in the science of managing electrical grids with our transactive energy work for the Department of Energy and we are working on smart ledgers (blockchain) to allow consumers to trade and receive value for their renewable energy production. Last month we were awarded nearly 2-million dollars in funding from the BIRD foundation in Israel to further develop and commercialize our energy control products.
The late summer brought news that we were selected as one of 500 semi-finalists (out of 4500) in the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit in Paris France on March 13-15. This competition awards the best Deep Tech entrepreneurs in the world. The purpose of the event is to propel emerging technologies that are providing the very different resources needed for companies working in Deep Tech and we are honored and excited to be a part of it.
Susan Ruhlin and Alison Harris’ guided us through a rebranding and messaging campaign which led to a new website and tagline- One software platform for all of your ecosystems. We wanted to convey our technology in a simpler and more approachable way. We think that the new site describes our work in the development of complex software systems and hope you can visit and see for yourselves.
I think, however, our greatest accomplishment was that we continued to create Maine-based jobs. We hired three new employees including Jack Clark, an Ocean Engineer, who moved back to Maine after going to college and earning a master’s degree at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Clare Bates-Congdon joined us from Bowdoin College this fall and will further our work in Bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence technologies, and Adam Hathaway, who is working on his Engineering Physics degree at the University of Maine, Orono.
Of course, this year was not without its challenges and we still face the daunting task of balancing our contract work with our ultimate goal of building a world-class software platform that enables companies to solve some of the hardest problems in the complexity sciences. Like many startups, we struggle with obtaining resources, both financial and human, so that we can sustain the mission we set out to do when we started the company. But, most importantly, we will continue to spend a lot of time thinking because the real reason Caryl and I started Introspective Systems was to create a collaborative, people-focused place to work, solve the toughest problems, foster innovation, and change the world.
Lastly, thank you to everyone who supported us over the year and best wishes for a happy, healthy, 2019.
